[Mike Nolan]

We had tacos plus dessert:

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[Mike Nolan]

When the butter leaks, it can be because the oven wasn't hot enough. For biscuits I'll sometimes pre-heat the oven to 25 degrees above the baking temperature, that way it is plenty hot when the biscuits go in. A very hot oven causes the outer surface to set quickly, which holds the butter in producing a softer interior.

I've been looking at shortcake molds and/or small Charlotte molds. Somewhere I have a 9" Charlotte mold, but I can't find it! But making the genoise as a sheet cake worked well. For a fancy plated dessert, I'd think about using a fluted ring to cut 3" circles of genoise.

[Mike Nolan]

We had some of the chocolate genoise with strawberries and a little milk, and then tried drizzling some chocolate ganache on it, too. Both very good. The chocolate in the genoise could be a little more assertive, I may try either using dutch chocolate or increasing the amount of cocoa. (We're kind of spoiled by the CHOCOLATE in crazy cake or Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake.)

The plan for tomorrow is to make some pastry cream and try cake, pastry cream, cake, ganache and strawberries. (It needs a fifth component, maybe some chopped pecans?)

I'm probably going to freeze half of what's left (12 pieces roughly 3x3.)

[Mike Nolan]

The low here tonight is currently predicted to be 37, the prediction just went down a degree again. Wind from the NNW which is right into the garden, so I'm hoping it doesn't get so cold it affects my garden.

I made 2 loaves of semolina bread today plus a 10x15 chocolate genoise, which we will cut into squares and have with strawberries for dessert. I used Susan Purdy's recipe, it was fairly easy to follow.

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[Mike Nolan]

This Ginsberg recipe (Danish rye or ragbrot) starts with an overnight scald/soaker of rye flour, sunflower seeds and flax seeds, so that may soften the flax to the point where some of it can be digested.

I'm also planning to make semolina bread today and a chocolate genoise sheet cake (to go with some fresh strawberries.) Taking advantage of the weekend's cool temperatures!

[Mike Nolan]

I still need to make semolina bread, but I think I'll wait and do it on Saturday.

I also want to try a Ginsberg rye recipe this weekend, but it calls for sunflower and flax seeds. I do have some flax seeds but they're quite old and I should just recycle them.

[Mike Nolan]

They're now forecasting a low of 38 for Sunday night, keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't get so cold it affects the plants. 38 and rain would probably be OK, 38 and windy, not so much

[Mike Nolan]

I did half of the tomatoes last night, the rest this morning.

I didn't do any melons last year, and I did a lot more eggplants this year than last. I have 24 tomato cages, but I dropped several varieties from last year (including Mortgage Lifter and Brandywine) and did more of our favorites, including Italian Heirloom and Amish Paste. I also put in two Celebrity, which I didn't do last year.

I've already got soaker hoses running all through the garden, including where the melons and eggplants are, so I should be in good shape other than things like weeding. I'm hoping that the 4th of July will have some fruit ready by their namesake date.

[Mike Nolan]

My garden is planted, 24 cages of tomatoes, 11 eggplants (2 varieties), 5 melon plants (2 varieties) and 4 melon hills that didn't sprout under the lights but might in the ground.

The 5 leeks went in one of my wife's pots, along with some French tarragon and sage.

[Mike Nolan]

Our plan for tonight is burgers on the grill, plus salad.

[Mike Nolan]

My vegetable gardening is minor league compared to what my wife does every year with her flower pots. She bought about 10 flats worth of plants, including 5 leeks that we haven't decided whether to try them in a pot or in the ground somewhere.

[Mike Nolan]

I moved most of my plants (7 varieties of tomatoes, 2 varieties of eggplant and 2 varieties of cantaloupe) outside Sunday afternoon and will start planting them late this afternoon. There are some temps in the low 40's forecast for this weekend, but I think I'll risk it. I've already got soaker hoses set up winding through the garden.

[Mike Nolan]

I waiting until last night to make my banana nut mini-muffins because I was waiting for a new mini-muffin pan to test.

It is a CasaWare pan with a ceramic coating on it ordered through Amazon. I used it for all 5 batches last night (120 mini-muffins), lightly buttering the pan before each batch, and it worked great, they all came out cleanly and I can wipe off the excess off the top with a soft cloth. I'm ordering another one soon and the old ones will be retired.

[Mike Nolan]

Thanks for the big laugh, BA!

[Mike Nolan]

We had burgers on the grill again, plus salads, we ate on the patio while watching for birds.

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